Enhancing Customer Experience and Building Brand Identity

How an IVR System Works

When an incoming call is received, it can be handled in one of three ways:

• Touch tone keypad selection: allowing customer calls to choose from available options using the phone’s keypad
• Directed Dialogue: offers pre-recorded verbal prompts, from which customers make a selection verbally.
• Natural language processing: Part of advanced IVR systems, natural language processing uses speech recognition to provide self-service options to the caller.

Advantages of IVR Systems in Customer Service

The customer service department has a bad rep in their ability to handle a heavy call flow. With automatic call distribution, customers resolve their queries faster. They are directly connected to the call center agent most capable of helping them.

Improved customer satisfaction means more likelihood of retaining customers. What’s more, incoming calls outside of business hours can be rerouted through an auto attendant. Put simply, IVR menus can be configured to route the call to an overflow number for an on-call team after business hours.

Exploring the Role of Branding in Customer Experience

Your brand image shows how customers can be expected to be treated by your business. As such, the image you create should align with the experience you provide.

The Impact of Brand Consistency in IVR Interactions

Inconsistency in your brand means your customers never know what to expect. They never know if they will find a resolution for their problem or not by contacting you. On the other hand, a consistent brand image ensures they will always walk away satisfied.

Your IVR interactions are the first point of contact. Maintaining the same tone, voice, and even key features helps customers understand what they can expect. It also ensures you present the same brand image every time.

Leveraging IVR Branding to Enhance Customer Satisfaction

How can you use IVR branding to improve customer satisfaction? There are many ways to leverage this computer-operated telephone system:

• Automate functions that make sense- and route the rest to a human agent.
• Use modern IVR applications where possible: speech recognition, DTMF signaling, and voice response options.
• Make your IVR menu options as comprehensive as you can- but don’t stuff in too much information.
• Improve self-service options to make IVR worthwhile- for the customer and for you.

Designing an Effective IVR Branding Strategy

What makes your IVR branding strategy effective? How can you ensure it is actually helpful, and not more of a hindrance?

Establishing Brand Voice and Tone

The tone and voice of your brand determine how you develop your IVR systems and how customers respond to them. Is your goal to engage and gather personalized customer data? Or are you all about efficiency? Implement your brand voice into your Interactive voice response.

Defining Brand Elements for IVR Implementation

Determine what brand elements should be featured in your IVR systems. Should it only be based on the use of phone menu options, or also include human operator input? Do you have specific departments to route callers to? Consider all these questions when setting up the IVR.

Adapting IVR Prompts to Reflect Brand Identity

The prompts you use, whether with a telephone keypad, DTMF signaling, or AI, should reflect who you are. Carry out tests on your prompts system to ensure it aligns with the message you want to give out. If it leaves your test subjects unsatisfied, it is unlikely to help your customers.

Crafting Engaging IVR Scripts

Your IVR script needs to be helpful, informative, engaging, and, most importantly, require professional audio production. Some simple tricks that can help you include:

• Be direct and clear with your prompts.
• Offer the ability to speak to live agents- a phone keypad is not the solution to every problem
• Try to isolate the problem- rather than listing all possible options at once
• Create personalized messages using customer data and account information.
• Test your script before launching it.

Best Practices for Implementing IVR Branding

Implementing IVR branding takes a little trial and error. The best practices you can use while trying to establish an IVR solution include:

• Try to keep your operational costs low.
• Map out how customers navigate through your IVR system, and if it’s effective.
• Regularly test out your setup and ensure your IVR works as you intend it to.
• Measure its effectiveness through customer reviews and customer retention.

Case Studies: Successful IVR Branding Examples

Let’s consider some real-world examples of successful IVR branding- and how you can do it too

Cadbury: Enhancing Brand Image Through IVR

Cadbury implemented a cleaner, advanced IVR system with call routing and a database to determine the caller’s identity. This step was taken to eliminate the more outdated manual contact center technology.

The more efficient technology has since increased inbound calls by 61.5%. It enabled Cadbury to create a more positive brand image, by improving response and resolution times.

HSBC UK: Improving Customer Perception with IVR Branding

HSBC struggled with managing the influx of inbound calls it received, leading to long waiting times. This caused customer dissatisfaction and time wasted for customers and employees.

With voice-response IVR, HSBC was able to drastically reduce wait times and increase first-call resolution. The new tech automatically transfers customers to the right resource, eliminating the need for DTMF tones.

Overcoming Challenges in IVR Branding

Just as with any other approach, IVR can present some challenges during implementation. You can stay ahead of any problems by:

• Maintaining a neutral language that does not alienate anyone, and is adapted to different cultures.
• Creating a brand image is important, but not at the cost of efficiency- focus on issue resolution first, and then promote your brand.
• Make room for complex queries with a system that routes calls to the right live agent.
• Use cloud-contact center solutions, or cloud IVR, to offer increased menu options and functions.

Implementing IVR Branding Across Channels

Almost every business today uses multiple channels to interact with their customers, including websites and social media. As such, your branding strategy should extend to include all these channels.

• Brand consistency across touchpoints: Everything customers come into contact with should show a consistent image: emails, website, and your IVR systems.

• Chatbots and Virtual Assistants: Instead of calling a number, a chatbot or virtual assistant can quickly guide your customers, and offer information, enhancing their experience.

• The future of IVR branding in an omnichannel world: With multi-channel systems emerging, your IVR branding should remain consistent across all channels. You can then use IVR for brand promotion and marketing that also enhances the customer’s experience and encourages a return visit.